Snowmaking begins at Sugarloaf

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine (November 11, 2011) – With flurries falling and temps dropping into the low to mid twenties this afternoon, Sugarloaf began snowmaking operations in preparation for the 2011-12 season. As of 2:00pm, snowmakers had more than 40 snowguns online, and expected to add more throughout the night.

Snowguns were online on Tote Road, from the top of the SuperQuad to the bottom of “Chicken Pitch,” and crews hope to bring more guns online at lower elevations throughout the night. Click here for additional photos.

Snowmaking operations are scheduled to continue throughout the night and into tomorrow morning, or as long as favorable temperatures last. Going forward, snowmakers plan to take advantage of any windows of favorable snowmaking temperatures (5 hours of 25 degrees or lower) in order to prepare the mountain for its scheduled opening date of Friday, November 18.

“Our first day of snowmaking is exciting every year,” said Rich Wilkinson, Sugarloaf’s Vice President of Operations. “It’s been a busy summer for us up here and we’ve been working hard, so it’s a great reward to see those snow guns come to life.”

This summer Sugarloaf invested $4.3 million in offseason upgrades, including the brand new Skyline Quad chairlift, and over 100 acres of new terrain in the Brackett Basin area. The resort also installed a new digital drive in the SuperQuad and complete several upgrades to its snowmaking system. The offseason projects were part of the resort’s Sugarloaf 2020 Ten-Year Roadmap, which was first unveiled in the summer of 2010. For complete details on the Sugarloaf 2020 plan, please visit www.sugarloaf2020.com.

Sugarloaf’s opening day is tentatively scheduled fro Friday, November 18. Sugarloaf will host the 27th annual Tin Mountain Round Up, November 26-27, when guests can ski or ride for just $30 if they donate three or more canned food items to help supply local food banks.